Monday, December 31, 2007

More on Open Education from the Washington Post

Studying on YouTube won't get you a college degree, but many universities are using technology to offer online classes and open up archives. Sure, some schools have been charging for distance-learning classes for a long time, but this is different: These classes are free. At a time when many top schools are expensive and difficult to get into, some say it's a return to the broader mission of higher education: to offer knowledge to everyone.

And tens of millions are reaching for it.

It was nice to see this shout-out for Utah State, which is proving itself to be the most progressive of the Land-Grant universities.

Schools are feeling their way, experimenting with different technologies; some use Utah State University's eduCommons on the Web; some post to free sites such as YouTube and the Apple university site iTunes U. Other schools have plunged right in: MIT has 1,800 classes online, virtually the entire curriculum free and open to all.

"The idea was to have a broad impact on education worldwide and make a statement at a time when many schools were launching for-profit distance-learning ventures," Steve Carson of MIT OpenCourseWare said, "trying to redefine the role of the institution in the digital age."

Truly wonderful! We're seeing new institutions grab the mantle of the "people's university". I'm just happy to see that someone sees this as their mission.

In September the Clinton Global Initiative will host its flagship meeting in New York. Since it was started in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton, CGI has mobilized almost 300 commitments from its members valued at over $2 billion. This year CGI is interested in commitments focused on the nexus of education and global health, two of the four focus areas. We are helping them look, particularly for projects that are being planned or are recently underway, that use open education (OER) approaches to support global health. Are you involved in a project like this or know of one? If so, please let me know via email (dwitzel@forumone.com) or phone (+1 571 641 3029).-----------Shakira